August 29, 2007

I received an interesting viral email from someone in Greece that claims the forest fires are the people's fault. He is absolutely right. The bi-polar political situation between center PASOK and right-wing New Democracy has done the country no favours over the years.

The fires are a bright example of this. Not much has been done in terms of fire safety and prevention as the two main parties fight a war of words but do little to resolve the situation. The Green Party is non-existent in Greece and with no vote or say in Parliament there is nobody to push for stricter laws, more policing of woodland and modern measures to combat this plague.

So for everyone complaining about the current situation remember that you have a say in the forthcoming elections. Vote for change and things will. Keep to your traditional voting patterns and this situation will go on forever. After all this is what democracy is all about.Failure to take action will lead to more problems in the future and worst thing is, you have nobody to blame.

Sorry to focus on this but silence is never a powerful argument. A call to action or action itself is though.

Voting green or alternative will show the politicians that crisis like this cannot be put aside. This is years of suffering and deforestation that the establishment supports by doing nothing apart from issuing planning permissions for the rich and well connected.

This government, like any other, needs to take responsibility for what is happening. For the terror, the deaths, the damage to the tourism and the economy and the worldwide defamation of a European country that refuses to brace itself against the same danger that occurs every summer.

Crisis calls for resolutions, for resignations and actions that will lead to solutions, not a recycling of the same excuses we have been hearing over the years.

This is no time to mourn and be silent, it’s time to scream and be demanding. The public’s anger should result to a better future. Self-pity and mourning will not get us anywhere, it never did.